Portable hops harvester

ABSTRACT

A portable agricultural implement for the harvesting of hops is disclosed that accommodates the automated removal of hops from bines as well as various features and functions associated with such removal and separation of the hops from debris.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/145,252 for a PORTABLE HOPS HARVESTER,filed Apr. 9, 2015 by John Bonzo et al. and from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/168,201 for a PORTABLE HOPS HARVESTER, filed May 29,2015 by John Bonzo et al., both of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

Disclosed herein is a farm or agricultural implement intended for theharvesting of hops or similar crops. More specifically the implement isportable and permits use in fields adjacent hops bines to provideautomated stripping or picking of hops from bines that are processedthrough the device. The implement is particularly adapted to therequirements of small to medium hops farms, and to the provision of hopsharvesting services.

BACKGROUND & SUMMARY

Hops are grown on suspended trellises that generally extend upwardlysixteen to eighteen feet in height and higher, thereby presenting asignificant harvesting challenge. When ripe, the hops are commonly cutdown and on small or mid-size farm operations may be separated or pickedfrom the bine by hand because there is no suitable hops harvester for asmall scale grower. The relatively short picking season, availability oflabor and other factors, such as leaves mixed in with the hops, alongwith bruising and discoloration, has led to the development of a small,portable hops picking machine that can be taken through the fields inwhich the hops are grown.

Typically, picking of hops involves first severing the hop bines, afibrous stem that is similar to a vine, from their growing positions onthe trellis structure in the field, and then transporting them to acentrally located, stationary harvesting machine or operation, where thehops coves (“fruit”) are picked or separated from the bines. Thesemachines can provide a throughput of up to 200 bines per hour; such isthe case with the Wolf or LaGasse harvesters. However, such harvestersare often prohibitively expensive for small and mid-size farms (costs inexcess of $40 K), where they are only used for limited times duringshort harvest seasons.

After being cut down and transported, the bines are hooked onto aconveying mechanism and the bine is pulled into the large stationaryharvester along a horizontal or vertical path. In more recent yearslarger hops producers may drive or pull a tall machine down a row ofmature hop bines seeking to shake or strip the bines while they remaintied to the trellis. These tall machines have vertical picking fingersthat strip the bine of all the foliage, including the hops, which issubsequently singled out within the harvester by a variety of well-knownprocesses, for the most part based on gravitational parsing.

Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in growing hops on aregional or local level as craft and micro-brewers seek regionalingredients with predictable and unique characteristics that make theirbrews distinctive. Additionally, in the interest of supporting localagriculture, it is known that legislation has been enacted, at least onestate (e.g., New York), that requires or encourages at least a portionof the hops used in a micro-brewery be grown and procured locally.Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments address an unmet need for a lessexpensive and portable hops harvesting implement that would fulfill therequirements of smaller scale, emerging local hops growers having fromabout one to ten acres of hops.

Disclosed in embodiments herein is a portable horizontal produce pickingimplement for the removal of hops from a bine, comprising: a generallyhorizontal bine transport loop or carousel extending through andoutwardly from the forward and rearward ends of the implement, saidcarousel including at least one bine clip; a shroud operativelyassociated with at least a portion of said bine transport loop; aplurality of picking rakes arranged on rolls forming a picking nipregion therebetween for contacting the bine and separating the hops fromthe bine; a helical bine positioning member biasing the bine toward thecenter of the picking nip region; at least one inclined separatingconveyor belt (e.g., at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees) positionedbelow the picking nip region, said separating conveyor belt having aperforated surface and a negative pressure at the upper surface thereof;a debris conveyor in proximity to the upper end of the inclinedseparating conveyor belt to debris from the upper surface of theseparating conveyor belt; a hops conveyor located beneath said inclinedconveyor to transport hops on a surface thereof toward the rear of theimplement and a collection location; a single blower simultaneouslyproviding negative air pressure to the upper surface of the separatingconveyor belt to enable the segregation of the hops from the debris andpositive pressure to directed to an end of the hops conveyor to blow andfurther separate any debris mixed with the hops as the hops falls fromthe hops conveyor; and a tow bar for connecting the implement to avehicle for transport; a power take-off connection for transferringmechanical power from the vehicle to the implement, said connectionbeing operatively connected to a transmission to facilitate thedistribution of mechanical power to at least the conveyor belts androlls; at least one hydraulic turbine having hydraulic fluid pressuresourced from said tow vehicle, said hydraulic turbine being operativelyassociated with at least the bine transport loop or carousel andproviding a driving force to a drive sprocket thereon; and at least twowheels 810 associated with said implement for the purpose of transport.

Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a method for the harvestingof hops including: attaching a hop bine to a bine hook or clip; usingsaid bine clip, pulling said bine horizontally into a harvester;removing leaves and hops from said bine; collecting said hops and leavesonto a conveyor; separating said hops from said leaves with gravity andnegative air pressure; apply a positive air pressure to eliminateforeign matter from the separated hops; and placing hops into acollection container.

Also disclosed herein is a portable horizontal produce picking implementfor the removal of hops from a bine, comprising: a power take-off fortransferring mechanical power from a tow vehicle to the pickingimplement to drive components; a second source of power (e.g.,hydraulic) sourced from said tow vehicle for operating at least onecomponent of the implement separate from the power take-off; at leasttwo wheels directly affixed to said implement for the purpose oftransport; a series of wire formed picking fingers arranged in rows forseparating the hops and leaves from the bine; a continuous horizontalbine carousel loop extending longitudinally from the front and rearends, and including at least one bine hook for pulling a bine throughsaid rows of picking fingers; a shroud (conveyor belt pieces attached toa roller chain) for preventing the bine from becoming intertwined withsaid continuous carousel loop; a bine positioning member having helicalsurfaces thereon for contacting the bine and biasing the bine to pullthrough a central region of the picking fingers; at least one inclinedconveyor having a perforated belt(s) thereon, said conveyor disposedbeneath said picking fingers at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees, saidat least one belt having a negative pressure applied from the interiorto a top surface thereof to attract stripped leaves and debris; ahorizontal hop conveyor situated beneath said at least one inclinedconveyor; a horizontal debris conveyor situated in proximity to an endof the last of the at least one inclined conveyor; and a single blowerproviding both positive and negative air flow to assist in thesegregation of the hops from debris.

Further disclosed in embodiments herein is a generally horizontal binetransport carousel for an agricultural implement, comprising: at leasttwo rotating sprockets, at least one sprocket located at each of theopposite ends of the implement; a roller chain spanning between and atleast partially in contact with the sprocket peripheries so as to beoperatively driven by at least one of the sprockets to which a drivingforce is applied; and a shroud applied to at least a portion of thetransport carousel to prevent fouling of the roller chain by the bine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top planar view of a harvester in accordance with thedisclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an exemplary bine clip in accordance withone of the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the harvester in accordance with thedisclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a left rear perspective view of the harvester in accordancewith the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the harvester in accordance with the disclosedembodiments;

FIG. 6 is a right rear perspective view of the harvester in accordancewith the disclosed embodiments and with all covers and doors closed inan operational configuration;

FIG. 7 is an interior view of the harvester from the right side toillustrate the bine stripper rollers, conveyors, carousel and othercomponents therein;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the front right sides of the harvester;

FIG. 9 is a cutaway view of the harvester from the front left side; and

FIG. 10 is a partial view of an exemplary stripper roller showing detailof the bine fingers or rakes.

The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit thedisclosure to those embodiments described. On the contrary, the intentis to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may beincluded within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments andequivalents set forth. For a general understanding, reference is made tothe drawings. In the drawings, like references have been used todesignate identical or similar elements. It is also noted that thedrawings may not have been drawn to scale and that certain regions mayhave been purposely drawn disproportionately so that the features andaspects could be properly depicted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, depicted therein is a top down illustration of ahops harvesting implement 100 in accordance with one of the disclosedembodiments. In operation, elongated bines are removably attached tobine clip 110, which is designed to readily engage and disengage thebutt (lower) end of a bine and pull it through the harvester. One ormore bine clips 110 (e.g., FIG. 2) are further affixed to carousalconveyor subsystem 118 for the purpose of drawing the bine(s) throughthe hops picking subsystem 200 of the harvester 100. Although describedrelative to hops bines, the disclosed embodiments, and componentsthereof may have further applications for the harvesting and processingof other agricultural items such as vine-based fruits, vegetables andthe like.

Carousel conveyor assembly 118 includes a hydraulic drive 144operatively coupled to one or more sprockets 140, 142 located the endsend (e.g., back and front) of the implement, such as a hydraulic orelectric motor, which in turn moves a continuous conveying surface suchas a #60 roller chain 146 of approximately 20-feet in length along acontinuous or endless loop or path. Roller chain 146 is illustrated as asingle-strand (single-width) chain, although it will be appreciated thatdouble-strand or wider chain links may be employed with commensuratechanges to the sprockets. Although variable in speed the chain may bedriven at speeds in the range of about 40 feet/min. More specifically,for example as depicted in FIG. 3, the chain 146 is driven by a singlefront sprocket 142 (e.g., approx. 24-inch diameter) at the forward endof the implement, and the sprocket 142 has a cylindrical shroud(s) 150extending vertically (e.g., downward) therefrom just inside the chainteeth 152. The shroud also may include a flare 154 along the bottom, sothat in rotation (direction of arrow 156) the bine is pulled around thecylindrical shroud with the sprocket as the chain and bine hook advance,and there are no surfaces or recesses in the carousel upon which thebine can become entangled as it exits the picking subsystem. Inaddition, a helical deflector 108 (FIG. 8), such as an auger extendingat least about one-half way across the width of the picking subsystem,serves to encourage or bias the bine 112 to move through a positiontoward the central portion of the picking/stripping subsystem, away fromthe conveyor's sprocket area.

In an alternative embodiment, a shroud in the form of a plurality ofvertical segments or plates 148 (e.g., Rexnord Table-top® chainconveyors, Series 843), may be attached to the endless roller chain forthe purpose of deflecting or holding the bine away from the chain,sprocket or other moving mechanical members of conveyor subsystem 118.

In summary, and referring to FIGS. 1-3, bine conveyor subsystem 118includes chain 146 that is at least partially wound about at least oneforward drive sprocket 142 and at least one rearward sprocket 140. Thechain, driven by the forward sprocket that is operatively associatedwith drive 144, uses one or more bine clips 110 to pull a bine throughthe picking subsystem 200. Although not depicted, the disclosedembodiments contemplate the ability to queue up or possible evenauto-load bines to the carousel conveyor. Such a system may allow asingle operator, or at most two, to effectively operate the harvesterwhere the operator may both load and unload bines in addition tohandling the hops being output at a collection location.

Referring also to FIG. 2, as previously mentioned, one and possibly twoor more bine clips 110 are mounted on conveyor subsystem 118, where anoperator “hooks” the bine to the conveyor, preferably while moving. Eachbine clip includes a generally oval-shaped piece of metal stock havingat least one toothed notch 1220 cut therein. The teeth of the notch areinward-facing so as to discourage a bine inserted therein from easilypulling out of the notch. The clip is bent slightly outward on thebottom so that at least one side of the notch is tipped or angledoutward from the conveyor making it easier to attach the bine. Hole 1222provides a location by which the clip can be attached to endless rollerchain 146 using a pin or bolt extending from the chain, while allowingthe clip to travel freely along the conveyor path with the bineattached. Once stripped within the picking subsystem 200, the bine issubsequently disengaged.

An alternative hook arrangement is further contemplated whereby acam-like pawl or similar feature is self-binding as bine 112 is insertedand cinched within the hook, but then again is counter-reactive to adownward force from the bine by virtue of the cam angle. Examples ofsuch bine hooks are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,699,172, 2,570,844,2,496,858, and 2,193,354, which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety, and may form a part of an auto-loading carousel.

Having described the manner in which bine 112 is transported into andthrough the harvesting implement, a further description of the pickingsubsystem 200 is now provided. The hops (cones or flowers) aremechanically “raked” or separated from the main fibrous stem by virtueof a plurality of resilient wire-formed members 136 which are inrotational contact with the leaves, stems and hops on a bine(s). Asdepicted in FIGS. 1, 3, and 10, for example members 136 are arranged insets and attached to a backplane roller 134 by fasteners 130 forming onerake member of many within the pairs of bine rake assemblies 114 and 116included with picking sub-system 200. In one embodiment, the picker orstripper roller assemblies, comprising roller, angle-iron fasteners andreplaceable picker finger rakes has a diameter of approximately15-inches. More specifically a plurality of bine rake members 136 areattached at equidistant intervals about the circumference of theapproximately 6″ stripper rollers, and the rollers are in turn mountedon shafts through bearings 138 on the implement side panels 122 (right)124 (left). The rake members 136 may be attached to the rollers usingangle-iron to facilitate production of individual rake assemblies andthe subsequent attachment of the rake assemblies to the rollers. Morespecifically, the angle-iron may be welded to the roller surface and therake fingers attached thereto using fasteners.

In the illustrated embodiment two pairs of bine rake assemblies, 114 and116 form picking sub-system 300. The stripper rollers for each assemblyare driven via a pulley (126) and chain or belt (not shown) on theexterior of side 122, and rotate in a direction counter to the directionthe bine is pulled through the nip (i.e., region between a pair ofstripper rollers). The formed-wire rake members 136 have an inherentresilience due to coil spring 132 that serves to strip the leaves andhops from the main stem. Therefore, the work of stripping the bines isaccomplished by subjecting bines 112 to the stripping influence ofsuccessive rows of flexible members 136 arranged within rake assemblies114 and 116, and in particular having an upper rake assembly working inunison with a lower rake assembly. In one embodiment (not shown), theamount of stripping force or agitation applied by the rake fingers 136can be varied by adjusting the relative position or nip separationdistance between pairs of rollers, for example, by adjusting theposition of the upper rollers in each pair along an arcs, therebyproviding an adjustable gap therebetween. It will be appreciated thatalternative stripper roller configurations may also be provided,including configurations with odd numbers of staggered rollers,additional pairs, etc. In an alternative embodiment, for example, threepicker rollers may be employed, where a top roller is located verticallyabove and horizontally between two lower rollers, (e.g., inverted “V”)and the top roller forms a picking or stripping nip between each of thelower rollers and the bine moves in a serpentine path as it traversesthe nips. Moreover, the spacing or nip between the picker rollersthemselves can be adjustable as can be the rotational speed of therollers, which allows the harvester to be adjusted based upon theconditions of the bines and hops thereon to obtain the optimum strippingcharacteristics.

Although generally depicted and designed to employ conventional pulleysand drive belts so as to facilitate maintenance of the implement, itwill be appreciated that some or all of the moving components of theimplement could be interconnected using chain drives and sprockets, orthey may be outfitted with separately adjustable drive motors (e.g.,electric or hydraulic) so as to be independently controllable.

In the illustrated embodiment, two pairs of picker or stripper rollersare employed to produce two stripping nips where the bine 112 passesthrough the rake assemblies, primary roller pair 114 and secondaryroller pair 116 respectively, with the primary difference between thetwo being the spacing of the nip or gap between the upper and lowerrollers. Stripping of the bine is a successive process, and having alarger gap on the primary or first stripping nip to remove a majority ofthe leaves, stems and hops followed by a smaller nip on the secondaryassembly, to extract any residual hops that were previously left behind,is believed to be preferred. In one embodiment the nip or gap is setwithin a range of about 6-8 inches for the primary rake nip and about4-6 inches for the secondary rake nip, and as noted above, someembodiments may make the nip separation distance adjustable.

Located in-line with the output side of the secondary rake assembly 116in transport 100 is helical auger member 108, which is also driven inconjunction with the stripper rollers. As a result of the nature of abine's stems it is essential that the bine be pulled through the centralportion of the picking subsystem. Nonetheless, the tendency of theside-mounted carousel is to put the bine toward the side. However, thebine is initially directed toward the center of the stripper roller nipsby an angled tubular guide 188 (FIG. 7) extending from the left side atthe rear or intake end of the harvester. Moreover, use of the rotatingauger 108, where the bine is pulled across the helical surface, providesa biasing force on the bine to direct and maintain a more horizontallycentered position of bine 112 as it is pulled through the pickingsubsystem 200.

Turning now to FIG. 7, for example, a cut away side view reveals thehops/leaves separation or sorting subsystem 400. Sorting subsystem 400comprises a series of conveyor belts in combination with a pressurizedair system. Having stripped the foliage from bine 112 in the binepicking subsystem 200, gravity causes the stripped hops, bine pieces,leaves and stems to drop into the separation subsystem 400.Conventionally, there are one or more angled sorting belts 205,positioned at an angle and moving at a speed (top surface moving upward)that encourages the leaves to travel upwardly on the upper surface ofthe belt while the hops fall down and off the belt, due to theirrespective mass differential and form factor (hops being heavier andmore dense). The angle of inclination for the upper surface of thesorting belt(s) may be fixed or adjustable in accordance with variablesinherent to the foliage mix (e.g., moisture, size, mass and extraneouscontent). In one embodiment the range of angles for the sorting orseparating belt is from about 35 to 45 degrees, whereby each of thesorting conveyors may be adjusted as determined by empirical results.While illustrated at the same angle, it may also be possible, inembodiments including multiple sorting belts, to incline one or more ofthe belts at different angles relative to the other belts. For example,a belt having a steeper angle may more aggressively encourage the hopsto drop down the belt surface.

More specifically, sorting or separation conveyor(s) 205 may furtherinclude surface characteristics that make them able to attractlight-weight debris while shedding the loose hops. For example, thebelts may have perforations along a portion or the entire surface of theconveyor belt 204 which allow for the passing of air therethrough. Inone embodiment, the perforations in the conveyor belt surface arestaggered, and the inlet to blower 214 delivers a negative staticpressure via manifold 210 to at least one and possibly each of theseparation belt(s) 204 to ensure that all materials, exclusive of thehops, are pneumatically attracted to the upper belt surface to assistthem in overcoming gravitational forces and hence conveyed to thepinnacle of the separation belt 204 and separation conveyors 205. Belts204 may also include roughened surfaces or other regular or irregularsurface characteristics (dimples, irregularities, ridges, etc.) thatimprove the contact between the belt and debris that is to be separatedfrom the hops.

As the separated debris approaches the uppermost portion of conveyor 205a platen 202 located beneath the surface of the conveyor belt ends andthe negative air pressure supplied by the platen stops, which in turnallows the debris to fall over and away from the top edge onto asuccessive separation conveyor belt 204 of separation subsystem 400,(assuming more than one separation belt is present). The platen 202 maybe a box or trough-like component having an air connection to a ductbetween the fan inlet and the platen. The platen itself, as well as theassociated ducting 280 and manifold 210 may include one or more bafflesor other devices to adjust the flow of air therethrough, and therebyenable an operator to customize the flow of air through the verticalconveyor surfaces. Also contemplated are one or more hinged ductcomponents and/or access doors so that the ducts and platens may beeasily accessed to clean our any accumulated debris or particulatematter. Platen 202 may also include an ultra-high molecular weight(UHMW) slides or trim along the edges thereof to allow the platen tocontact the rear surface of the belts 204 and minimize air flow throughthat region, while avoiding or at least minimizing abrasion to the beltdue to such contact. This iterative separation process continues untilthe last separation belt 204 is reached, at which time debris exits thelast conveyor and moves to the rear of the implement to be discarded bythe last conveyor. In an alternative embodiment, a discharge ramp orchute may be employed to assure that the leaves, stems and otherremaining debris fall to a point well beyond the separation sub-system400.

Concurrently, hops conveyor 218 receives the separated hops, fallingfrom the sorting conveyor system 205 above, and subsequently transfersor drops them onto the auxiliary hops conveyor 610 (described below) orinto a collection bin 216. Also contemplated in association with thesorting belts 204 and the conveyor 218 is the addition of a louver orsimilar mechanism adjacent the lower end of one or more sorting belts toadjustably limit the space or gap between the bottom of the sortingbelts and/or the conveyor such that the hops cones are allowed to rollpast or over the louver whereas the leaves or other debris are preventedfrom passing through and thereby remain in contact with the sortingbelt.

Also associated within hops conveyor 218, or possibly with the auxiliaryhops conveyor 610, may be a positive air pressure nozzle or knife,receiving air flow from the outlet of common blower 214, whichstrategically directs an adjustable stream of air beneath, and acrossthe end of the hops conveyor 218 (e.g., over horizontal belt conveyor620), just above a hops collection location, thereby blowing anynon-hops vegetation that may have been deposited onto the hops conveyor218 during the separation operation over the auxiliary hops conveyor andout the rear of the implement. In one embodiment a single, impeller-typeblower 214 provides for both a negative static pressure to the platen202 beneath the separation belt(s) 204, as well as the aforementionedpositive air flow to the air knife or nozzle as the hops exitsseparation sub-system 400 and hops conveyor 218 in particular.Furthermore, the direction and amount of air flow out of the air knifemay be controlled by a damper adjustment. In particular, not only canthe fan speed be adjusted based upon the PTO speed, but the inflow andoutflow can be adjusted using dampers associated with the componentsthat are connected to the fan. It will be appreciated that otherpositions within the implement may receive and/or utilize positive ornegative pressure air flow for various cleaning or sorting purposes andare not limited to those described and illustrated.

Power to drive the numerous conveyors, blower 214 and helix positioner106, etc. is either self-contained and/or externally derived. In oneembodiment a tow vehicle is relied upon to provide the mechanical powersource in the form either, or both, a power take-off (PTO) and/orhydraulic pressure. Power transmission throughout the harvester isfacilitated through a series of drive chains, shafts, pillow blocks,gears, pulleys and belts in communication with a PTO clutch. Engagementof the PTO 260 is controlled in response to a belt-drive and idlerpulley system, and a lever 460 or similar engagement or tensioningsystem is used to manually engage the drive mechanisms to the PTO power.In operation, the PTO incoming speed may be set to operate at about300-540 rpm. In the case where it is not mechanically feasible totransfer power to a specific location within the harvester, or due tothe desirability of an independently variable speed control, a hydraulicor other motor may be used as the power source, such as the case withthe bine conveyor subsystem 118, for example. It should be further notedthat the foliage may be quite heavy on some hop bines and comparativelylight on others, therefore it may also be desirable to have the speed ofthe bine drive independently variable from the picking roller speeds toaccommodate the prevailing harvesting conditions. Alternatively, themechanical power source necessary to drive the various components suchas conveyors, blower, etc. may be self-contained and provided fromsources such as an electrical drive motor, liquid fuel or gas poweredengines, etc. In one embodiment, the mechanical power source may includea 29-Horsepower Briggs & Stratton gasoline engine with an associatedhydraulic pump. Such a source may be separate from the implement andattached via the PTO coupler 260, or it may be integrated with andattached to the implement, for example, on or near the tongue where thePTO coupler is attached. For example, the mechanical power source may beintegrated with a bolt-on replacement tongue 104 so that the illustratedtongue may be removed from the harvester and replaced with a tongue andpower source that can be connected to the harvester power distributionsystem via the PTO and hydraulic connections.

The harvester 100 further includes a chassis including an axle sethaving trailer tires 120 attached thereto and a tow bar, having hitch102, affixed to the forward portion of the chassis. It will beappreciated that the chassis and the implement size may be based upon orconsistent with known implement chassis (e.g., a manure spreader) so asto facilitate the attachment and operation using known components(trailer tires, frame, tongue, power take-off, etc.). It will beappreciated that the chassis, and particularly the axle, tires, tongue,etc., may be produced in compliance with Department of Transportationvehicle highway regulations to produce an over-the-road suitableimplement that may be easily transported. The tongue 104 may furtherinclude a hitch receiver for attachment to a vehicle, as well as a stand740 or similar device to support the tongue when not connected to thevehicle.

At the rear of the implement, an auxiliary hops conveyor 610 isincluded, or alternatively a simple bin, to receive and assist in thetransfer of the sorted hops out to a side chute and bins or otherprocessing equipment that may be placed adjacent the implement. In oneembodiment the auxiliary hops conveyor includes a generally horizontalbelt conveyor 620 and an upwardly angled belt conveyor 622, where thebelt of conveyor 622 includes ridges or bars on the surface to preventhops from rolling backward and down the conveyor. The auxiliary hopsconveyor may be driven by a hydraulic power supply in order to allowvariable control of the conveyor belts and their speed, and to betterserve to move and elevate the hops out the side of the device where theycan be further collected or processed. The auxiliary hops conveyor may,for example, move the hops into bins, bags or similar transportcontainers, either automatically or with the aid of an operator. It willbe appreciated that although shown as belt conveyors, alternativeconveying techniques may be employed, including vibratory conveyor(s),auger(s), etc. For example, an auger-type mechanism may be used to movethe sorted hops in an upward direction. Moreover, the auxiliary hopsconveyor as well as alternative conveying equipment or associated bins,hoppers and the like may be collapsible or detachable from the harvester100 in order to facilitate movement or over-the-road transport of theharvester.

Turning now to FIGS. 3-9, depicted herein are illustrations of variousviews about the periphery of an embodiment of the disclosed harvesterimplement. While incorporating many of the features disclosed above, theembodiment depicted also includes various covers and doors (e.g., hingedpanels with handles, etc.) that provide protection from moving belts,chains, sprockets, etc. For example, FIG. 3 shows a portion of thehydraulic system, including the regulating valve(s) 320 used to controlthe speed of the chain driven by the shrouded sprocket. As illustrated,the shroud 150 includes a perforated metal central region and a bottomflare 154 extending radially therefrom. As previously described theshroud is intended to prevent the bines from becoming entangled in thechain and drive mechanisms, and it will be appreciated that a differentsize shroud or an alternative design may be used in addition or as analternative. FIGS. 4-6 show the rear of the harvester with the inclined,perforated conveyor belts, as well as the support bearings for theassociated driven rolls and idler rolls that support the belts. FIGS. 3and 8 show the manner in which mechanical power is supplied via a PTOconnection to a tractor, and hydraulic power is provided as well viahoses that are connected to a hydraulic port on the tractor or aseparate pressurized hydraulic supply.

Having described various features and components of the illustratedembodiments, attention is briefly turned to additional or optionalfeatures and benefits of a hops harvesting implement being contemplated.In one embodiment, instead of having an attached top or cover over thepicking subsystem, it is contemplated that the top may be movable withrespect to the sides, thereby permitting the top to me removed or atleast pivoted upward to allow access to the subsystem in the event thatthe picker or stripper rollers or other components need to be accessedfor cleaning and the like. Another feature that may prove beneficial isa release mechanism by which the drive belts or gears for the pickerrollers are disengaged in order to place the picker rollers into a“neutral” drive position, thereby allowing the rollers to freely rotateforward and backward in order to untangle or clean bine and other debris(e.g., coir rope, etc.) from the rollers.

Another feature contemplated in accordance with the disclosedembodiments is the inclusion of one or more sorting sieves or screensmay be employed to sort and/or remove large collections of debris, etc.For example, a coarse sieve in the form a suspended screen or a rollingmesh belt conveyor may be employed in a position between the pickingsubsystem 200 and the sorting subsystem 400 to collect and removebouquets (e.g., large collections of leaves and hops, pieces of bine,etc.) so that they do not interfere with the sorting of smaller hops anddebris that are allowed to pass through the sieve to the sorting beltsand conveyors below.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the harvester 100 may beimplemented without one or more of the subsystems disclosed above. Inone alternative embodiment, the harvester may be implemented without thesorting subsystem 400 so that the implement is able to strip hops fromthe bine, but provides no sorting capability. Such an embodiment maystill include one or more transport conveyors (e.g., hops conveyor 218and or auxiliary hops conveyor 610) to move the hops and debris toanother location for sorting. In another alternative embodiment,harvester 100 may be implemented without a stripping capability (nocarousel conveyor 118 or stripping subsystem 200), whereby materialssuch as combined hops and leaves that have been stripped from a bine arepoured or placed into the front of the harvester (tongue end) andallowed to proceed to the sorting belts and processed as describedabove. As will be appreciated it may also be possible to operate thesefirst and second alternative embodiments in conjunction with oneanother, or additional implements, as required for particular harvestingand processing operations.

As noted above, the various descriptions and illustration set forth inassociation with the disclosed embodiments are not particularly limitedin scale, and as noted, several of the components may be provided insingular or plural configurations. Furthermore, the relative size andcapacity of the disclosed embodiments is not particularly limited andimplements of larger size, hence greater capacity, and smaller size,hence lesser capacity, are specifically contemplated herein.

In yet a further option, the top cover may be made in a manner of aworking platform 950 (see e.g., FIG. 9) so as to support the weight ofone or two persons that may stand on the top as a platform by which theyare elevated above the ground and may reach the tops of the binetrellises and are able to hang coir rope and otherwise construct andmaintain the trellises. Moreover, the platform may be further adjustablein a vertical direction, either manually adjustable with an extendableladder, or possibly via a hydraulically actuated scissor lift, so thatthe implement may be used on trellises of different heights and provideoperators the ability to easily and safely reach such heights as theimplement is pulled down rows. In the event a platform is included, theplatform may include required railings or similar safety features aboutthe periphery of the platform, and may further include a deflector orsimilar mechanism by which overhead cables, bines and the like aredisplaced upward and outward as the implement is pulled through a rowwith the platform raised. It should be further appreciated that if thetop cover also serves as a platform that various safety features andinterlocks may be considered whereby the picking subsystem is notoperational while the cover or platform is raised, or that the platformcannot be raised when the implement is not generally in a levelposition, etc.

Another option contemplated is a debris grinder or mulching apparatusthat me be fit to or simply pulled behind the harvester to furtherreduce the size of the debris and stripped bines after the hops has beenharvested. Such a device would, using known technology, reduce the sizeof the output to those that may be easily spread and/or composted.

In recapitulation, from the foregoing it is understood that in operationthe operator cinches the bine into a bine clip 110 on a bine conveyorsubsystem 118 that provides a drawing force for the continuoushorizontal travel of the bine 112 through a picking section of theharvester. The bine successively enters the throat or nip 910 of theprimary rake assembly 114 having spring mounted rakes 136 in contactwith both the top and bottom of the bine as the leaves, stems and hopsare separated from the trunk. The semi-defoliated trunk progresses intothe secondary rake assembly 116 where the gap between the upper andlower rakes has been reduced in order to capture the residual hops. Uponexiting, the remaining trunk is removed from the bine conveyor belt andmost generally placed into a discrete shredder which may or may not beconjoined to, or powered by the harvester. The intermingled assortmentof leaves, stems and hops is concurrently dropped onto mixed foliageconveyor 208, positioned just below the picking subsystem 101, whichsubsequently places the “debris” into the separation sub-system 400where the hops are sectored out from the rest of the foliage by gravitythrough one or more inclined conveyor belts 204. The hops are furtherisolated on an exit conveyor 220 by a stream of directed air whichensures that only hops are placed in the bin 216. Notably, the leavesand such are encouraged to move up the inclined conveyor by applying anegative pressure through the belt of separation conveyor system 400that is subsequently released at the upper end of the belt as the leavesare either dropped onto a successive inclined belt or in the alternativeplaced on an exit belt to be discarded along with the bine trunk.

It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed embodimentsand other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may bedesirably combined into many other different systems or applications.Also, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable implement for the removal of hops froma bine, comprising: a generally horizontal bine transport carouselextending through and outwardly from the forward and rearward ends ofthe implement, said carousel including at least one bine clip; a shroudoperatively associated with at least a portion of said bine transportcarousel; a plurality of picking rakes arranged on stripper rollersforming a picking nip region therebetween for contacting the bine andseparating the hops from the bine; a helical bine positioning memberbiasing the bine toward the center of the picking nip region; at leastone inclined separating conveyor positioned below the picking nipregion, said separating conveyor having a perforated belt surface with anegative pressure applied along at least a portion thereof; a hopsconveyor located beneath said inclined conveyor to transport hops on asurface thereof toward the rear of the implement; a single blowersimultaneously providing negative air pressure to the separatingconveyor belt and positive pressure to an end of the hops conveyor toblow and further separate debris mixed with the hops as the hops fallsfrom the hops conveyor; a tow bar for connecting the implement to avehicle for transport; a source of mechanical power that is distributedto at least the conveyor belts, blower and stripper rollers; anadditional source of power for operating at least one component of theimplement separate from the power take-off; and at least two wheelsassociated with said implement for the purpose of transport.
 2. Theimplement according to claim 1 wherein said shroud is a vertical shroudinterposed between said bine and the transport loop and attached to saidbine transport loop.
 3. The implement according to claim 1 wherein saidshroud is a generally cylindrical, co-axial shroud attached near theperiphery of at least one drive sprocket of said bine transportcarousel.
 4. The implement according to claim 1 wherein the spacing of anip between the picking rakes on at least one pair of rolls isadjustable.
 5. The implement according to claim 4 wherein the adjustmentin the spacing of said nip between the picking rakes is accomplished byadjusting the position of at least an upper stripper roller.
 6. Theimplement according to claim 1 wherein said additional source of powerincludes hydraulic power from the vehicle and where the implementfurther includes at least one hydraulic drive operatively associatedwith the bine transport carousel, said hydraulic drive providing adriving force to a drive sprocket where said drive sprocket in turndrives the bine transport carousel.
 7. The implement according to claim1 further including at least one bine positioning member for contactingthe bine and biasing the bine toward a central region of the nip.
 8. Theimplement according to claim 7, wherein said bine positioning memberincludes a rotating member having helical surfaces thereon.
 9. Theimplement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one inclinedseparating conveyor is positioned at an angle of between about 30-45degrees relative to horizontal and said negative pressure from saidblower is applied from the interior to a top surface of the belt toattract stripped leaves and debris to said belt surface.
 10. Theimplement according to claim 1, wherein said blower further providespositive air flow to assist in the segregation of the hops from debris.11. The implement according to claim 1, wherein said source ofmechanical power includes a power take-off, attached to a vehicle, saidpower take-off being operatively connected to a transmission tofacilitate the distribution of mechanical power to the conveyor belts,blower and stripper rollers.
 12. The implement according to claim 1further including at least one working platform thereon, said platformsupporting a person at a position elevated above the ground.
 13. Amethod for the harvesting of hops including: attaching a hop bine to abine hook; using said bine clip, pulling said bine into a harvesterusing a carousel, said carousel having a chain to move said bine clipabout a continuous path, where said carousel includes a shroud toprevent the bine from becoming entangled therein; removing leaves andhops from said bine using at least one pair of rotating stripperrollers, each of said stripper rollers including a plurality of pickingrakes arranged thereon and said picking rakes forming a picking nipregion between the rollers for contacting the bine and separating thehops from the bine; collecting said hops and leaves onto a separatingconveyor; separating said hops from said leaves using gravity; applyingair pressure to further eliminate foreign matter and thereby separatingthe hops from leaves and other debris; and directing the separated hopsinto a collection location.
 14. The method according to claim 13 whereinsaid carousel includes a roller chain and said shroud provides aprotective cover over at least a portion of the roller chain.
 15. Themethod according to claim 13 wherein said carousel includes a drivesprocket and said shroud is co-axially attached about the periphery ofsaid drive sprocket.
 16. A transport carousel for an agriculturalimplement, comprising: at least one rotating sprocket; an endless rollerchain in at least partial peripheral contact with the sprocket, saidchain generally defining a horizontal and continuous path whereby saidendless roller chain may be operatively driven by the at least onesprocket to which a driving force is applied; at least one clip,operatively attached to said endless roller chain, said clip receivingand retaining an agricultural item therein as said item is transportedalong the path of the endless roller chain; and a shroud applied to atleast a portion of the transport carousel to prevent fouling of theendless roller chain or sprocket by the agricultural item.
 17. Thecarousel according to claim 16, wherein said shroud includes a pluralityof removable pieces operatively connected to the roller chain.
 18. Thecarousel according to claim 16, wherein said shroud includes a co-axialcylinder attached to at least one sprocket about a periphery of thesprocket.
 19. The carousel according to claim 16, wherein at least tworotating sprockets are employed, each of said rotating sprockets beinglocated near opposite ends of the implement, and where the roller chainloop spans the two rotating sprockets and wraps at least partiallyaround each of said rotating sprockets.